What is the Vietnam War? What is the Vietnam War? What happened to the United States and Vietnam?

The Vietnam War (1961-1975), sometimes referred to as the Vietnam War, is also called the Second Indochina War. Vietnam calls it the Anti-American War for National Salvation (Vietnamese: Chi?n Tranh Ch?ng M? C?u N?c), is a war between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the United States, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Vietnamese "National Liberation Front". The Vietnam War was the war with the largest number of casualties in which the United States participated since World War II. Many people also believe that it was also part of the Cold War and was a "hot war" in the Cold War. North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, who hoped to unify Vietnam, supported the southern guerrilla "National Liberation Front" against the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem. The United States sent troops to help South Vietnam. The first U.S. president to aid South Vietnam was Eisenhower; Kennedy began to support fighting in Vietnam; Johnson expanded the war to an uncontrollable point. During the Nixon administration, the United States gradually withdrew its troops from Vietnam due to the domestic anti-war wave. The South Vietnamese government troops were eliminated by the North Vietnamese People's Army and the South Vietnamese Liberation Army, and Vietnam achieved final unification.

Background

Vietnam was a French colony before World War II and was occupied by Japan during World War II. Around the end of World War II in 1945, the "Viet Minh" led by Ho Chi Minh (later the "Vietnam Communist Party", referred to as the "Vietnam Communist Party") established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (called the "Vietnam Democratic Republic") in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. North Vietnam"). France supported Emperor Bao Dai in establishing a kingdom in Saigon in the south. In order to compete for control of the entire territory of Vietnam, Vietnam and France fought a nine-year Franco-Vietnam War. In 1954, with the military assistance of the People's Republic of China, the Vietnamese won a decisive victory over the French army in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and France withdrew from northern Vietnam. According to the resolution of the Geneva Conference (1954), North and South Vietnam were temporarily divided along the 17th parallel. North Vietnam was ruled by Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam was under the control of Emperor Bao Dai. In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem launched a coup in Saigon and established the Republic of Vietnam (called "South Vietnam").

The Geneva Conference (1954) stipulated that elections to unify the country were scheduled to be held in July 1956, but this election was never held. In the context of the Cold War, U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower began to view Southeast Asia as a potential key battlefield in the Cold War. U.S. policymakers feared that democratic elections would allow communist influence to enter the South Vietnamese government. Ngo Dinh Diem received the support of the United States and implemented a dictatorship in South Vietnam, which also enabled North Vietnam to win the public relations war. North Vietnam implemented large-scale agricultural reforms and distributed land to farmers, arousing the desire of people in the south. Some believe it was for this reason that Eisenhower wrote in his memo that if national elections were held, communism would win. (An alternative explanation, however, is that the communists in the north were unlikely to allow free elections in their half of Vietnam.) In the end, neither the United States nor Vietnam signed the election clause in the agreement. It seems, then, that a divided Vietnam will become the norm, just like a divided North Korea.

Entering the War

In 1959, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam decided to unify Vietnam with arms and sent a large number of military personnel to South Vietnam to organize armed insurrection. In 1960, the National Liberation Front was established. It was composed of various factions opposed to the Ngo Dinh Diem regime and was actually controlled by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Communist Party. In the same year, the "Sino-Soviet Debate" broke out. Both the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union needed to establish their own images in the "international communist movement", so they both actively supported North Vietnam's attack on the south.

In June 1961, U.S. President Kennedy and Soviet leader Khrushchev met in Vienna. Khrushchev bullied the young American president wantonly, trying to intimidate him into making concessions to the Soviet Union on certain key disputes. Especially Berlin, where large numbers of skilled workers have fled to the West. Khrushchev's intimidation actions escalated step by step. In August, the "Berlin Wall" was built overnight and West Berlin was blockaded by East Germany. In September, the Soviet Union resumed nuclear testing.

The severe situation made Kennedy believe that "if the United States withdraws from Asia, it may disrupt the balance of power around the world (Schlesinger's words)." At this time, the conflict on the Indochina Peninsula was the only hot war in the Cold War at that time. Kennedy and his advisers quickly decided to show America's strength and determination to fight communism on the Vietnam issue. It is also believed that the conflict would best follow the North Korean model and be limited to the use of conventional weapons through proxies as a way of mitigating the threat of direct nuclear war between the two superpowers.

At this time, the National Liberation Front had controlled most of the countryside in southern Vietnam. Although there was military assistance from the United States, political autocracy and corruption caused the Ngo Dinh Diem government to lose the people's support and was unable to prevent the expansion of the National Liberation Front. power. In May 1961, in order to further help the Ngo Dinh Diem government, Kennedy dispatched a special forces unit to South Vietnam, marking the first time that US combat troops entered Vietnam. This event is often considered to mark the beginning of the Vietnam War.

Gradual escalation

In 1965, the US military used napalm to bomb a Vietnamese guerrilla building south of Saigon. The corrupt and incompetent South Vietnamese government forces were retreating steadily in the face of the National Liberation Front, commonly known as the "Vietnamese guerrillas." In order to prevent North Vietnam from providing material and personnel support to the Vietnamese guerrillas, the South Vietnamese Navy launched attacks on naval bases along the coast of North Vietnam. The U.S. Navy also sent ships to assist and provide electronic warfare support. On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox, an American destroyer on a mission, was attacked by a North Vietnamese torpedo boat. The United States immediately retaliated by bombing North Vietnamese naval bases. This is the famous "Tokyo Gulf Incident" ("Beibu Gulf Incident").

The "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" was a major watershed in the Vietnam War. Both North Vietnam and the United States viewed it as a deliberate attack by the other and responded forcefully. Vietnamese guerrillas carried out retaliatory attacks on many US military bases. The North Vietnamese 325th Division entered South Vietnamese territory and assembled, marking an open attack by the North Vietnamese regular army (Vietnam People's Army) against South Vietnam. The U.S. Congress passed the "Tokyo Gulf Resolution", authorizing the president to use all means, including force, to deal with this provocative behavior. This effectively gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to start a war without declaring war, which Johnson then greatly escalated. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang. Just a few months later, the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam reached 220,000. Johnson also authorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam. However, all U.S. bombing operations and targets in North Vietnam are tightly controlled by Washington. The selection of daily bombing targets is planned by the Department of Defense and the White House, and frontline commanders cannot modify them according to actual needs. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense and the White House were very worried about a head-on conflict that would injure Chinese or Soviet advisors stationed there. They had many restrictions on the selection of bombing targets and rules of engagement, and these restrictions were often inconsistent with the tactics pursued by the United States. The strategic goals are completely opposite. For example, the US military cannot attack military airports in North Vietnam without approval. Even if North Vietnamese Air Force fighter jets are seen on the ground preparing to take off, US military aircraft cannot launch attacks. Most of North Vietnam's transportation and important facilities are also restricted from the range that can be attacked. Facts have proved that "Operation Thunderbolt", aimed at preventing North Vietnam from infiltrating the south, was a complete failure under this kind of hand-tied command. North Vietnamese commander Vo Nguyen Giap still sent his troops south at an alarming rate. Entire regiments of North Vietnamese regular troops dispersed into the Ho Chi Minh Trail, braved air attacks, and assembled in the south.

On November 14, 1965, the first encounter broke out between the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment in the Drang Valley. After three days of fierce fighting, more than 1,200 North Vietnamese died and about 200 U.S. troops died. . The U.S. military achieved victory, but like countless subsequent battles, the tactical victory did not help change the U.S.'s predicament. The North Vietnamese were prepared to suffer huge casualties and were convinced that an unrestricted war of attrition would eventually force the Americans out of Vietnam.

Westmoreland, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, believed that more "Battles of the Drang Valley" would force North Vietnam to admit defeat, and launched a series of "search and destroy" operations for the North Vietnamese army. The North Vietnamese army implemented Vo Nguyen Giap's attrition strategy, attracting US troops to attack under carefully prepared favorable terrain, and fought fiercely until casualties reached a certain level before withdrawing from the battlefield. Westmoreland continued to report to the country the victories achieved by the US military, claiming that North Vietnam's combat effectiveness was being gradually weakened. In fact, in order to cope with North Vietnam's seemingly endless offensive, the number of U.S. troops stationed in Vietnam had reached 500,000 by the end of 1967, and Westmoreland was still asking for more.

At the end of January 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive of unprecedented scale. More than 80,000 North Vietnamese troops and Vietnamese guerrillas launched attacks on almost all cities in South Vietnam. The scale and brutality shocked Americans who were accustomed to Westmoreland battle reports: countless military facilities and government buildings was destroyed; the old capital Hue where the fighting was fiercest was almost completely destroyed; the US military base in Khe Sanh was besieged for 76 days and had to be abandoned after the siege was lifted because the damage was too severe. The North Vietnamese lost more than 50,000 men during this offensive, but by May they had restored their offensive capabilities. The Tet Offensive forced Johnson to admit defeat. On March 31, 1968, Johnson gave a speech to end "Operation Thunderbolt", stating that U.S. troops would gradually withdraw from Vietnam, and announced that he would give up running for the next president. In June 1968, General Abrams succeeded Westmoreland in commanding the U.S. forces in Vietnam.

According to the invitation of the U.S. government, South Korea began to send combat troops such as Blue Dragon, White Tiger, and Tiger in 1965. In nine years to 1973, more than 300,000 South Korean soldiers participated in the Vietnam War. Among them, 4,687 people died in battle and more than 40,000 enemy soldiers were killed. In order to pay for South Korea's military expenditures, the United States provided about US$1 billion to the South Korean government. Outside the United States, South Korea (formerly known as South Korea) is the largest troop-contributing country.

Anti-War Movement

The small-scale anti-war movement began on university campuses in 1964, which coincided with unprecedented left-wing student activism. A large number of baby boomers are also reaching college age. The growth of the anti-war movement was also due in part to widespread television news coverage, which made college-age Americans more informed about the war than previous generations.

By 1968, anti-war demonstrations had spread across the country. In August, large-scale clashes broke out between demonstrators and police in Chicago, resulting in bloodshed. In May 1970, in order to protest the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, the first nationwide student strike in U.S. history broke out. More than 100,000 students poured into Washington to protest.

Thousands of young American men fled to Canada or Sweden to avoid the risk of being drafted. At that time, only a small proportion of all working-age men actually needed to enlist; and in most states, most young men of working age had not yet reached voting age or drinking age. The local Selective Service Office ("Selective Service Bureau") There are no clear guidelines for military service exemptions, so decisions about who is required to serve and who is exempt can be loose. Charges of unfairness led to the creation of the Selective Service Lottery system in 1970, in which a young man's birthday determined his relative risk of being drafted (September 14 was the birthday at the top of the draft list in 1970, and the following year is July 9). Young people were forced to risk their lives in the military but were denied the right to vote and not allowed to drink, a situation that successfully forced lawmakers to lower the voting age nationwide and the drinking age in many states.

On January 21, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardoned most of those who had evaded military service during the Vietnam War.

"Vietnamization"

In 1969, Nixon became the President of the United States and stated that he would implement the "Vietnamization" policy and gradually withdraw the U.S. military from Vietnam, which was withdrawn in June of that year The first batch of 25,000 US troops. But while the U.S.-Vietnam negotiations were ongoing, the war continued.

In March 1969, the U.S. military began secretly bombing North Vietnamese military bases in Cambodia; in May, the Battle of Hamburg Heights broke out. On March 18, 1970, Cambodia's pro-American General Lon Nol launched a coup and overthrew the regime of Prince Sihanouk; in May, with Lon Nol's acquiescence, the US military invaded Cambodia and attacked the North Vietnamese military base there. By 1971, the number of U.S. military deaths exceeded 40,000.

In March 1972, Giap mobilized almost all North Vietnamese military forces and launched the "Easter Offensive", which was larger than the 1968 Tet Offensive. Nixon ordered U.S. B-52 strategic bombers to conduct a comprehensive bombing of North Vietnam. North Vietnam's Easter Offensive ended in failure, with losses of more than 100,000 people. Vo Nguyen Giap was dismissed as a result, and Moon Tien Dung took over as commander of the Vietnamese People's Army. The failure of the Easter Offensive, the power of U.S. B-52 strategic bombing, and pressure from the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, which were eager to improve relations with the United States, forced North Vietnam to return to the negotiating table. On January 27, 1973, the four parties participating in the "Paris Conference on Vietnam" (Vietnam, the United States, the South Vietnamese Communist Party and the Provisional Revolutionary Government, and the Saigon Regime) formally signed the "Concerning the Ending of the War and the Restoration of Peace in Vietnam" in Paris. Agreement". Within two months, all U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam.

The war is over

In 1975, South Vietnamese civilians boarded US military helicopters to evacuate US troops from Vietnam. However, the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam did not end. 1974 was still a bloody period. Year. The guerrilla war continued, and the North Vietnamese regained control of much of the southern countryside. In January 1975, North Vietnam recovered from the huge losses of the Easter Offensive and launched its final decisive offensive. In just a few months, the South Vietnamese government forces collapsed and major cities fell. In April, North Vietnam launched the Battle of Xuan Loc and the Battle of Ho Chi Minh, aiming to capture Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, before May 1 to prevent the South Vietnamese army from reorganizing new defenses and counterattacks.

In the first few hours from April 29 to April 30, 1975, the U.S. military organized the largest helicopter evacuation in history, and the helicopter evacuation on the roof of a hotel became the first incident of U.S. involvement. Sign of the end of the Vietnam War. On the same day, Saigon fell. North Vietnam captured the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace, and the South Vietnamese regime was destroyed. In the same year, the communist parties in Cambodia and Laos also seized power successively, and the Vietnam War ended with a complete victory of communism.

On January 2, 1976, North and South Vietnam were unified to form the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Hundreds of South Vietnamese sympathizers were executed and many more arrested. The Vietnamese Communists took power and rule to this day.

Casualty statistics

North Vietnamese regular troops and personnel considered to be Vietnamese guerrillas: 1.1 million people died, 600,000 people were injured, and 330,000 people were missing.

U.S. military: During the Vietnam War, 58,000 U.S. troops died, 304,000 were injured, and more than 2,000 were missing.

South Vietnamese government forces: 130,000 dead and 500,000 injured.

South Korean Army: 4,500 dead.

Australian Army: 500 dead and 2,400 injured.

Thailand Army: 350 people died.

New Zealand Army: 83 dead.